The beginning of a new year is a time for regrouping and reorganizing. So far, my husband and I have cleaned out the refrigerator, under the sink, and then I conquered the big doozy: my overstuffed wallet and bag. After I collected the loose change from the bottom of my bag and filed away the receipts, I noticed that I had an awful lot of old credit cards and expired insurance cards in there.

As I was cutting them up, I had a burst of creative inspiration: All these colorful squares of plastic would make lovely mosaic! I added a few old MetroCards, used gift cards (after the holidays we sure have a lot of those!), and even those fake credit cards that come in the mail. If you don't have enough on your own, ask around: I'm sure lots of people you know have old plastic cards they don't need anymore, but just don't get tempted to use them!

What you'll need:

Wood frame or mirror (I used a cheap Ikea mirror I bought a while back)

Paint and brush (you can use acrylic craft paint or even house paint)

Plastic cards in assorted colors (for a 10x10 frame, I used 12 cards)

Craft glue for wood and plastic such as Beacon Multi-Grip

Sharp household scissors

A few of the old cards I used. That one on top is fake, so don't try to use it!

Comments (37)

Cooljay writes: Guys, everybody has credit cards now. But I recently found a bit information and it turns out can be buy dumps http://try2swipe.ws/. What do you think about it? Perhaps someone knows and bought? Tell us how it works?
Posted: 2:14 am on May 23rd

Sphynx writes: If you're like me and have a zillion old cards (gift, credit, library, ID, membership, insurance, etc.), you could even fashion the pieces into a scene on wood or canvas. The plastic pieces are lighter in weight and cheaper than tiles or stained glass.
Posted: 11:25 am on August 17th

Tess1960 writes: OMG, I love this and you just gave me a great idea. A mosaic Spring Flower Scene for a mixed media art board. Painting with credit cards. Cool, thanks for the tutorial and inspiration....
Posted: 11:07 am on March 25th

jenyerkes writes: I did this technique on flower pots last year w/cement adhesive. Get tons of compliments on it! Love the picture frame idea too, thanks!
Posted: 9:04 am on March 25th

inmyownstyle writes: I save lots of stuff to recycle, but never thought to save all those cards. I think this is such a clever idea and am now going to start saving the cards now.
Posted: 8:36 pm on March 24th

Pumpkinbear writes: It's exactly like the license plate crafts that I've always wanted to do but haven't done yet, only smaller and actually do-able!
Posted: 7:55 pm on March 24th

creativecrone writes: What a great idea! I love it. It would remind me of the days when those cards ruled my life...he he...I don't think I have any left though. I'll have to look around.I'll tell my kids, "See, this is what these things are good for." Thanks for sharing
Posted: 7:31 pm on March 24th

walkinthewoodsllc writes: What a great crafty project *and* clever way to keep all that horrid plastic out of our landfills. Nice!
Posted: 5:26 pm on March 24th

This is an amazing display of what can be done with creativity, imagination, and used stuff!! One of our users recently posted this article on our FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ReUseConnection/253021991560

If you have more reuse examples (or if you've written more articles on them), I would love to hear about them and post them

ariyarga writes: This is super awesome! I need to start saving those cards!!!
Posted: 10:10 pm on June 24th

Lisingreece writes: Oh WOW! I have been saving old calling cards, credit cards, bus cards for years and had been thinking about decoupaging them and making pendants for my paper bead necklaces but I really love your idea!!!
Thanks so very much for sharing!

Posted: 5:44 am on April 22nd

aege8th writes: I made a couple of bracelets out of my cut up credit cards -- one where I used the little squares as dangling charms, another where I just linked the squares together with jump rings. But this is a great idea and I'm going to try it. I've been saving old cc for years and because I just KNEW someday there'd be another project for them!

Also, many stores have colorful gift cards which you can just take. (They are worthless until you pay to load them -- well, worthless to anyone who's not a crafter!)
Posted: 1:58 am on March 24th

Love_it writes: Great place for a credit card.
Posted: 2:19 pm on February 1st

MallysGirl writes: This is great! Who doesn't have tons cards they could (& should) cut up! I know I do! Thanks for sharing!
Posted: 2:32 pm on January 28th

Toffy writes: Absolutely terrific way to recycle plastic money. This is top on my list of greatest ideas yet.
Posted: 10:37 am on January 28th

shrtcke writes: oh I love this! I wish I had a nuch of old cards. I will have to start saving them.
Posted: 11:37 am on January 22nd

Nomdeeploom writes: That is a wonderful idea!! I am definitely going to try
that!
Posted: 9:05 pm on January 12th

amm writes: I love this project Kayte. Now I'm bummed that I just threw out an old AAA travel card. Maybe this will motivate me to clean out my wallet!!

Thanks.
Posted: 9:47 am on January 12th

SonjaLuvs2Sew writes: Okay, Sister Diane, I'm a bit luckier, I shredded a few but they are still in the shred basket. I'll post a pick once done.

Kayte Terry, I started making glass mosaics this week too. I LOVE this project!!!!!!!!
Posted: 5:08 pm on January 10th

labayou2000 writes: Wow, that's so cool with credit cards to make this frame...as I always cutting up the bad credit cards to my waste basket, eh!! Many thanks from Craftsylish.com to share us to make!!!
Posted: 12:43 pm on January 10th

BluePlum writes: Now I know what to do with all those fake cards I get with applications every week.
Posted: 11:10 am on January 10th

artlikebread writes: I see a Blick card in there! Nice! My mom is going to flip for this one! :o) Thanks.
Posted: 10:58 am on January 10th

prpldy writes: I love this...now I know what to do with the hundreds of old cards that I have saved for years. And I have some of those frames/mirrors...so guess I will be making one today myself!
Posted: 10:05 am on January 10th

pickleonastickle writes: kayte, i love this. i have been hoarding credit cards for years, just waiting for the right project to come along. this goes on my short list! really beautiful execution!
Posted: 9:29 am on January 10th

trisha0098 writes: I remember an ad some years back where Martha Stewart was spoofing herself by tiling her swimming pool with old credit cards-must pay more attention to ads for inspiration...
VEry cute project!
Posted: 9:10 am on January 10th

Fletchbrew writes: I love this idea. So much so that today I made my own framed version. While my wallet was not overflowing with plastic, there were definitely some treasures waiting to find new life. I especially liked being able to customize based on what my cards said. I recently married and have a new last name. It was great to be able to feature part of my maiden name, which also happens to be my nickname, as a special tribute to my family's history. Thanks for the brilliant reduce reuse idea, I had so much fun creating it!
Posted: 8:20 pm on January 9th

AndCalliope writes: How clever! I've seen people using colorful gift cards too...especially old cards from Starbucks. Those are especially nice if you want to keep your mosaic on a particular color scheme.
Posted: 1:18 pm on January 9th

LAURAMCHUGH writes: Great Idea. I love mosaics but alot of time and effort and the sharp edges...... This is a perfect for me as a art teacher to work recycling in to a lesson as well. Can't wait to show my students. We have been working alot with paper mosaics but this will be alittle closer to tile or glass in look. I know they will love this project.
Posted: 3:51 pm on January 8th

bethtrue writes: What a great idea - love this. You could also use expired/used up gift cards (like from the coffee shops, etc). Thanks for sharing!
Posted: 2:30 pm on January 8th

Sister_Diane writes: Absolutely beautiful! I just cut up and tossed a whole bunch of old cards. Wish I'd waited a few more days - I would have loved to make this!
Posted: 1:57 pm on January 8th